Mike Krzyzewski

Please note: The Associated Press preseason top-25 will be released later this month (our ballots are due soon).

Also, consider this the last call for Pac-12 Network questions (go here) before I attempt to get answers from the conference office.

Action: USA Today/Coaches’ preseason top-25 poll released Thursday with Oklahoma on top followed by Alabama and Oregon. Stanford is No. 6.
Reaction I: It’s easy to dismiss the preseason polls as meaningless, but they aren’t. They set expectations that provide the basis for coaches to receive contract extensions (or walking papers), and they establish a loose pecking order for BCS admission. It’s much easier to finish in the top 14 (required for an at-large bid) if you’re ranked at the start of the season.
Reaction II: That said, the preseason polls are hardly a model of accuracy: Last year, only four of the top-10 teams in the Coaches’ preseason poll were in the top 10 of Coaches’ postseason poll (Ohio State, Boise State, TCU and Oklahoma) … Auburn, if you’re curious, was No. 23 in the preseason.

Action: Oregon president Richard Lariviere acknowledges that he pushed Mike Bellotti out after nine months as AD and expresses dismay over Bellotti’s unwritten contract and severance package.Reaction I: Each week it becomes more and more apparent to me that Bellotti 1) didn’t leave coaching voluntarily and 2) didn’t want to be an athletic director.Reaction II: If anything, Bellotti’s getting a bit of a bad rap. What, he’s not suppose to accept a $2.3 million golden handshake?Reaction III: All responsibility (blame?) falls on former athletic director Pat Kilkenny, who instigated the Kelly-Bellotti switcheroo, pushed Bellotti upstairs (presumably so he could kick back) and then didn’t bother to get Bellotti’s deals in writing.